The list of 78 terror attacks the White House says the media didn’t cover — but they did

The White House released Feb. 6 a list of 78 terror attacks it says didn't receive enough attention from the media. (Jonah Green/Reuters)

After President Donald Trump wrongly accused the media of not covering terrorist attacks, the White House released a list of 78 attacks it deemed to be underreported.

We rated Trump’s initial claim Pants on Fire, and the White House’s assertion that most of attacks it identified "have not received the media attention they deserved" is almost equally as baffling.

The list includes widely covered incidents as those in Paris; San Bernardino, Calif.; Brussels; Orlando, Fla.; and New York City — reporting on these attacks often prompted Trump to comment immediately. Other attacks, like ones in Chad and Saudi Arabia, received much less attention but also resulted in no fatalities.

We found that the media reported on every one of the incidents in some fashion, except an alleged October 2015 nondeadly attack in Egypt that we could not independently verify. Whether the media covered the events enough is a matter of opinion, but it would be wrong to suggest the events weren’t covered at all.

Here’s the White House’s list (which includes a number of misspellings) and some of the reporting we found on each attack.

TARGET: One soldier killed at war memorial; two wounded in shootings at Parliament building

ATTACKER: Michael Zehaf-Bibeau"

This was the second attack in Canada in a single week, and it targeted government buildings. The garnered significant coverage; a search of archive.org’s television database garners more than 275 clips that mention the attacker’s name.

As an attack involving an American citizen, this incident, which took place at an upscale shopping mall, was covered by every majornews network in the United States for several days, as well as majornewspapers.

This non-deadly attack received most of its coverage in the French media, but U.S. outlets reported it, as well, as part of a series of attacks in France.

"PARIS, FRANCE

January, 2015

TARGET: One police officer and four hostages killed in shooting at a kosher supermarket

ATTACKER: Amedy Coulibaly"

This hostage event received extensive coverage; it happened two days after the infamous Charlie Hebdo attack. Television news networks covered this story as it was unfolding, broadcasting livefrom outside the supermarket while the hostages were inside. At PolitiFact, we wrote a fact-check about it.

"TRIPOLI, LIBYA

January, 2015

TARGET: Ten killed, including one US citizen, and five wounded in bombing and shooting at a hotel frequented by westerners

This attack was covered by a fewmajorAmerican news outlets, though briefly. Contrary to the White House’s description, news outlets were inconsistent about whether this attack wounded one or two people.

"NICE, FRANCE

February, 2015

TARGET: Two French soldiers wounded in knife attack outside a Jewish community center

ATTACKER: Moussa Coulibaly"

U.S.outlets covered this non-deadly attack, noting how soon it took place after the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack.

"COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

February, 2015

TARGET: One civilian killed in shooting at a free-speech rally and one security guard killed outside the city’s main synagogue

ATTACKER: Omar Abdel Hamid el-Hussein"

This attack received coverage over several days in the American news media, including multiple stories from the New York Times and at least 70 mentions over three days on CNN.

"TUNIS, TUNISIA

March, 2015

TARGET: 21 tourists killed, including 16 westerners, and 55 wounded in shooting at the Bardo Museum

Given that this incident took place in the United States, it received a goodamountofcoveragefromU.S.newsoutlets — who emphasized that the man, Usaama Rahim, wielded the knife as authorities went to question him about his potential terrorism ties.

"EL GORA (AL JURAH), EGYPT

June, 2015

TARGET: No casualties; camp used by Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) troops attacked in shooting and bombing attack

ATTACKERS: Unknown number of ISIL-Sinai members"

Some western media covered this attack, including the New York Times, though sparingly, as no one was killed.

"LUXOR, EGYPT

June, 2015

TARGET: One police officer killed by suicide bomb near the Temple of Karnak

TARGET: 38 killed and 39 wounded in shooting at a beach frequented by westerners

ATTACKERS: Seifeddine Rezgui and another unidentified attacker"

This incident received significant coverage, given that it was was a massive attack at a popular tourist destination. The New York Times wrote more than a dozen articles about the attack, and every major television news outlet reported on it.

"LYON, FRANCE

June, 2015

TARGET: One civilian killed in beheading and explosion at a chemical plant

ATTACKER: Yasin Salhi"

This incident took place on the same day as the comparatively massive Sousse, Tunisia, attack. Nevertheless, westernnewsoutletscovered the Lyon explosion and suspect’s arrest.

"CAIRO, EGYPT

July, 2015

TARGET: One killed and nine wounded in VBIED attack at Italian Consulate

TARGET: Two civilians and one US soldier wounded with firearms and knife on a passenger train

ATTACKER: Ayoub el-Khazzani"

A U.S. soldier was one of the wounded, and three Americans subdued the assailant, so this attack receivedextensivecoverage. The New York Times published at least six articles. A search of "Spencer Stone," the wounded soldier, on Archive.org yields more than 150 television mentions in the three days following the incident.

"EL GORA, EGYPT

September, 2015

TARGET: Four US and two MFO troops wounded in IED attack

ATTACKER: Unidentified"

This attack wounded four U.S. soldiers, yet there was limitedcoverage from the American media.

This was the largest attack in Europe in years. Media outlets gave the attack wall-to-wall coverage for days — covering the attack as it was breaking, mourning the victims, and reporting the subsequent investigations and political ramifications in Europe and the United States.

For example, the New York Times published dozens of stories, as did USA Today. A search on Archive.org’s television database for "Paris" in the five days following the attack yields more than 2,200 hits, including more than 75 for CNNalone. PolitiFact wrote about it in the context of domestic politics a coupletimes.

"DINAJPUR, BANGLADESH

November, 2015

TARGET: One Italian citizen wounded in shooting

ATTAKER: Unidentified"

The New York Times and Al Jazeera America covered this nondeadly attack on a Catholic missionary, but most coverage came from Italian and South Asian news outlets.

The deadly San Bernardino shooting took place in the middle of the day in the United States and received massive covered. American media outlets thoroughly reported the news as it was breaking, including the backgrounds of the shooters, victims’ stories, and the political ramifications — especially because it took place immediately before the 2016 presidential election primaries.

The New York Times says it wrote more than 100 stories about the attack. A search on Archive.org’s television database for "San Bernardino" in the five days following the attack yields more than 1,500 hits, including more than 60 for CNNalone. PolitiFact wrote about it a coupletimes.

"LONDON, ENGLAND, UK

December, 2015

TARGET: Three wounded in knife attack at an underground rail station

ATTACKER: Muhyadin Mire "

This nondeadly attack received some coverage in the American media, including from CNN and the New York Times.

"DERBENT, RUSSIA

December, 2015

TARGET: One killed and 11 wounded in shooting at UN World Heritage site

The attacker stole an officer’s firearm and used it to shoot a cop sitting in his patrol car. Both local and majornationalnews outlets reported on the incident, given that it occurred in the United States and the public’s interest in violence involving police.

"HURGHADA, EGYPT

January, 2016

TARGET: One German and one Danish national wounded in knife attack at a tourist resort

The White House’s suggestion that the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, was underreported truly baffles us. The Tampa Bay Times, among many others, covered the developments in real time. PolitiFact issued an explainer on guns and gun violence in the immediate aftermath, and we fact-checked Trump’s own speech responding to the shooting.

TARGET: 14 killed in suicide attack on a bus carrying Canadian Embassy guards

ATTAKER (sic): ISIL-Khorasan operative"

The Taliban and ISIS both claimed responsibility for the attack, named one of the deadliest attacks on foreign contractors since the war in Afghanistan began, according to the Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, and the AFP.

"ISTANBUL, TURKEY

June, 2016

TARGET: 45 killed and approximately 240 wounded at Ataturk International Airport

The Denmark edition of Local, an English news network in Europe, reported on the Aug. 31 shooting about 80 times.

"PARIS, FRANCE

September, 2016

TARGET: One police officer wounded in raid after VBIED failed to detonate at Notre Dame Cathedral

ATTACKERS: Sarah Hervouet, Ines Madani, and Amel Sakaou"

The discovery of a suspicious car near Notre Dame led NPR’s morning coverage on Sept. 8. Bloomberg reported that three women were arrested in Paris for the failed bombing guided by the Islamic State in Syria.

TARGET: 31 wounded in bombing in New York City; several explosive devices found in New York and New Jersey; one exploded without casualty at race in New Jersey; one police officer wounded in shootout

ATTACKER: Ahmad Khan Rahami"

The Sept. 17-19 bombings in New York and New Jersey attracted widespread attention. Here’s a timeline from USA Today, an explainer from PBS and a CNN piece on Trump saying he agreed with early reporting of a possible foreign connection.

TARGET: 14 wounded by individuals who drove a vehicle into a group of pedestrians and attacked them with a knife

ATTACKER: US person"

Google News identified more than 90 articles written on the attack at Ohio State University on Nov. 28, the day of the attack. The Columbus Dispatch published a timeline of the events, while NBC revealed the suspect’s identity that night.

"N'DJAMENA, CHAD

November, 2016

TARGET: No casualties; attacker arrested after opening fire at entrance of US Embassy

ATTACKER: Chadian national"

This attack received little press attention, but Africa News and the AFP reported that there were no injuries.

"KARAK, JORDAN

December, 2016

TARGET: 10 killed and 28 wounded in shooting at a tourist site

ATTACKERS: Several gunmen"

A Nexis search produced 119 articles from Dec. 18, the day of the shootings carried out by ISIS, to Christmas day. CNN and the Associated Press published reports the night of the attack.

"BERLIN, GERMANY

December, 2016

TARGET: 12 killed and 48 wounded by individual who drove truck into a crowded market

ATTACKER: Anis Amri"

The Dec. 19 attack on a Berlin Christmas market was covered widely by the press. The New York Times alone published a dozen articles in two and a half days on new developments, the search for the perpetrator and the victims.

About this article

Sources:

Google, Nexis Lexis, CQ, Archive.org, IQ media searches

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